Library turns to public for new card designs

San Francisco’s library cards are set for a makeover, and the city is asking the public to submit designs and ultimately vote on what the new cards will look like.

Starting Tuesday, children, teens and adults can digitally submit their drawings to ImproveSF.com, a citywide program that lets users propose and rate ideas online to better the community. The contest ends Oct. 4, after which the public can vote on their favorite designs from five categories: second grade and under, third through fifth grades, middle school, high school and adult.

Currently, the library is using cards designed by city schoolchildren in a 2007 contest. But that batch of cards will run out early next year, as the library issues about 60,000 new cards annually.

That last contest attracted more than 500 entries and Deputy City Librarian Jill Bourne said kids were excited to select a card designed by someone their age.

“People identify themselves by the kind of library card they have,” she said.